From Flobots to Hitler
Handlebars- by Flobots
One of the most powerful things a human being possesses is voice and the power to use that voice to do great or terrible things. The song “Handlebars” by Flobots emphasizes what people can do: pretty much anything. But the song also references to what voice can do.
The lyrics, “I can lead a nation with a microphone” emphasize how the simple act of holding a microphone and making a speech can exert power with those words. This exertion of power and excersizing the strength of words is a small example of how rhetoric can be used as power. The song even continues on to reference Adolf Hitler, one of the most powerful rhetorician’s in history: “and I can end the nation in a holocaust, in a holocaust, in a holocaust”, with what sounds like the cheer heard in Nazi rallies in the background.
How is it that one man can lead an entire nation to kill millions of innocents in the most inhumane ways simply because of religious affiliations and different beliefs? Is it simply because they were all evil people? No, that’s not it.
Hitler spoke with what he believed was the truth; he spoke with his heart. We may see it as a deranged way to feel, but the power of speaking to what you think is true and reaching out to millions using simple words and short, powerful sentences can touch people and make them feel like “Yeah, he has a point there!”. Not only did his speeches evoke these emotions, but his propaganda did as well. It constantly reminded people of his thoughts, his views, this heartfelt matter of his, and eventually it sunk in to the people of that nation’s thoughts too. This ended in the world’s most well known Holocaust and caused the deaths of millions of innocent people.
photo by: Dubgael on flickr.com
Take Back the Night
After passing the poster in the hallway of my dorm about 200 times, I decided to look at it while the elevator was taking forever. I noticed something called Take Back the Night, and after reading what it was about, I realized that this was an example of a group of people using the exigence of situation to motivate a change.
In this case, the problem is the violence that occurs while walking at night. The first Take Back The Night occured in October 1975 in Philly after a woman named Susan Alexander Speeth was killed a block from her house by a stranger. The walk is done yearly, across the world in such countries as Italy and Germany after over 16,000 rapes occured in Rome in one year. Obviously, in the years 1975-1976 there was a definite need for change.
It continued in England, where the Jack the Ripper killing were happening during this time.
The Take Back The Night campaign attempts to spread the word that this type of violence is unacceptable. While it started as a women only event, it has now broadened to include men that have been assaulted at night as well. Why can't we walk at night? Why is it dangerous? Obviously because people are getting attacked, but why?
This campaign holds walks in places around the world. In fact, next week this walk is occuruing here at Penn State in front of Old Main at 6pm.
Take Back The Night, or Reclaim the Night (as it was called in Europe), is trying to motivate people to take initiative and come and support this rally as they try to fight the violence that happens at night.
In this case, the problem is the violence that occurs while walking at night. The first Take Back The Night occured in October 1975 in Philly after a woman named Susan Alexander Speeth was killed a block from her house by a stranger. The walk is done yearly, across the world in such countries as Italy and Germany after over 16,000 rapes occured in Rome in one year. Obviously, in the years 1975-1976 there was a definite need for change.
It continued in England, where the Jack the Ripper killing were happening during this time.
The Take Back The Night campaign attempts to spread the word that this type of violence is unacceptable. While it started as a women only event, it has now broadened to include men that have been assaulted at night as well. Why can't we walk at night? Why is it dangerous? Obviously because people are getting attacked, but why?
This campaign holds walks in places around the world. In fact, next week this walk is occuruing here at Penn State in front of Old Main at 6pm.
Take Back The Night, or Reclaim the Night (as it was called in Europe), is trying to motivate people to take initiative and come and support this rally as they try to fight the violence that happens at night.
Believe by Yellowcard
September 11th, 2001. A time of heartache, fear and a coming together that America hasn't seen in a long time. Where were you on 9/11? Were you in a classroom, where the teachers were instructed to tell you nothing? Did you know someone who was a hero?
Yellowcard's song, "Believe", recorded sometime in 2002 and released in 2003, pays tribute to those heroes, those men and women that lost their lives on that day:
The song has us think about what the saviors went through, "climbing higher through the fire", a mantra that goes through the minds of those in danger to calm, "everything is going to be alright, be strong, believe". An assurance that they will get through this.
The song is told through the point of view of the person being saved from the chaos. There's thanks for letting them see their families again, for giving up their lives even though it wasn't clear if they're lives would be saved too.
In the background, and excerpt from Mayor Michael Bloomberg's speech the year after is heard:
"Again today, we take into our hearts and minds those who perished on this site, one year ago, and also those who came to toil in the rubble to bring order out of chaos, and helo us make sense of our despair."
This excerpt drives Yellowcard's meaning even further, hearing a speech commemorating the victims of 9/11. The use of political rhetoric and musical rhetoric in one, gives an even deeper meaning to the song, it unites two fronts.
Another excerpt is heard, an even more famous one, one that united the nation at a different time:
"The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."
The Gettysburg Address, read by New York Governor George Pataki, was used during the Civil War. The original speech was read at the site of the Battle of Gettyburg (one of the bloodiest battle of the war) to give thanks to those who lost their lives for the war. Governor Pataki repeated the speech at the one year memorial of 9/11 to do the same, but instead in the memory of those who lost their lives in the start of the "War on Terror".
Yellowcard combines their lyrics and the speeches to create a rhetorical song that persuades the listeners to give thanks for the heroes of 9/11, and to never forget the event.
Photo by: jonathaneric on Flickr.com
Reflection:
I chose these bloge because I believe that they best represent what this class was about. The first blog, From Flobots to Hitler, is a representation of how rhetoric can be used in a negative way to create a powerful movement, and also how the rhetoric of the past is used to evoke emotion when a recognizable sound is heard in the background of a song that is trying to convey the power that people posess. I chose the second blog, Take Back the Night, because it is a demonstration of the exigence of a situation, in this case the exigence of the violence that occurs at night while walking the streets. The third, Believe by Yellowcard, is very similar to the first one, but this one is an example of how rhetoric can be used to move people in a positively powerful manner, and how the song uses a speech of the past and a much more recent speech to create an emotion of pride for our nation, and to appreciate all of the heroes, today and from the past.
